The Darkness Within Light
by Elzbun
Summary: When two children are given and chance at a new life, they didn't know it involved helping the Avatar, who they had previously belived to be a fictional character. Little did they know of the Power they held. Older than the Avatar. Older than the Dragons that once ruled the earth. Older than the sprits themselves. Fire, Ice...Sun, Moon...Light, Dark...Love, Hate...Life and Death..
1. Chapter 1

I stared in horror at the scene before me. The van was going down the road at about 100 mph down an abandoned road. I was confused, scared, and angry. It was dark, the only light coming from the front windows of the van, and the only sound was the guys driving and the guy to the left of me, a gun pointed at me.

Rested in my arms was my best friend, Ash. She had been hit. _They_ shot her! twice. In the shoulder and the stomach. As if she needed any more pain in her life than what she's felt before! She was losing blood fast, and I tried to apply as much pressure as I could on her wounds, but it seemed…futile. I didn't know what to do! She was the one that knew how to deal with wounds, god knows she's had enough of them in her life time.

"She's loosing blood, _Please!_" I cried to the guy in front of me. He sneered at me.

"She doesn't look that bad. Now shut your mouth you little cunt," he hissed at me. I glared at him but turned my attention back to Ash. Her normally creamy skin was ghostly pale and yet cold and clammy. Sweat drenched her hair, and her face was scrunched up in pain.

"_Please!_ If she fallen unconscious she might not wake up!" I begged again.

"_SHUT UP!"_ He shouted, hitting me around the head with the back of his gun. I fell over, trying to shield Ash from the blow. I stared at the floor of the van, feeling warmth spread from my head down my face.

We were going to die. I didn't care about myself, I wanted Ash to be well. I wanted her to have a happy life. She deserves one. That's all I've ever wanted, for her to be happy.

That's when I noticed the knife that was under the drivers seat. It was in reach, I could get to it.

_I could save her! Push her out the van or something, try to make it with her but if you can't just make sure she gets out!_ I let go of Ash for a moment, and quickly grabbed the knife, tackling the man with the gun. He was caught off guard and I knocked the gun out of his hand, it went off, crazing my shoulder in the process. The drivers turned at what the commotion was, hearing the gun shot. They lost control of the wheel at the sudden activity. We swerved off the road. We were on a stretch of road by a mountain, mid boarder of two states. We swerved off to the left.

And off the mountain side to the river, 300 feet bellow. As we fell the men all screamed. I let go of the knife, and took Ash's body in my arms, her small body clutching onto mine.

"I'm sorry…" I whispered into her hair as we approached the bottom of the gorge.

_BANG!_ White light…then **nothing.**

Flying away from the Fire Nation ship on Appa, the Avatar and the Water tribe siblings were happy that they got away safe. Appa flew into the sky as the sun was setting, the sky being a pink/ peach colour.

"How did you_ do_ that? With the water! It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!" Katara exclaimed, sitting cross legged on Appa's saddle.

"I don't know. I just sort of…did it…" Aang trailed off, sitting on the perch at the front of Appa's saddle, his glider in his lap. There was a paused before Katara spoke, feeling that the topic was sensitive for the young Airbender.

"…Why didn't you tell us you were the Avatar?" She asked gently. Aang looked at her, distressed.

"Because…" He looked away. "I never _wanted_ to be…" he said in a quiet voice, looking over at the vast ocean. A cloud went over them, as an eerie silence came over the trio. Finally Katara spoke up again.

"but…Aang, the worlds been waiting for the Avatar finally to return and finally put an end to this war,"

"And how am I going to do that?" Aang asked without looking up.

"According to legend you need to first master Water, Earth then Fire, right?" She asked with a wry smile.

"That's what the monks told me," Aang said looking up from having his head bent.

"Well, if we go to the north Pole, you can master Waterbending," Aang picked up.

"We can learn it together!" Aang said with a big smile, getting excited by the prospect of training with the pretty water tribe girl.

"And Sokka, I'm sure you'll get to knock some Firebender heads on the way," Katara said, turning to get brother. He smiled lazily.

"I'd like that. I'd really like that." He said looking over at the sky.

"Then we're into his together!" She said.

"Alright, but before I learn Waterbending, we have some serious business to attend to." Aang said pulling out a scroll and lifting himself down on saddle level with the others, with a little bit of Airbending. He rolled out the scroll, revealing it to be a map. "Here, here, and here." he said pointing at three different places on the map.

"What's here?" Katara asked, pointing at one of the places.

"Here, we'll ride the hopping llama's, and waaaay," He twirled his finger for effect. "Over here, we'll surf on the backs of the giant Coy Fish," The siblings stared at the young Airbender with side eyes as he was talking. "Then over here we'll ride the Hog monkeys," Katara and Sokka exchanged worried looks. "They don't like people riding them, but that's what makes it fun!" He said with a wide glee filled smile.

The avatar and his new friends set off on they're journey to train the Avatar and save the world.

What none of them had noticed earlier that day though, was a flash of black then white light come from the sky, crashing to an ice berg near the camp of what remained of the Northern Water Tribe, with a sound so quiet and yet so loud that it shook you too your very core.


	2. Arrival

Pain. There was a dull throbbing pain coming from somewhere in my body. I couldn't figure out exactly…where. And cold. It was cold. Everywhere…Like...I was buried in snow. What had happened? We were coming back from the cinema? An then… My body went rigid. Oh god. I was alive?! I couldn't be alive! No one should be able to survive that fall. No one could have lived.

Ash! Where was she? She was okay too right? I mean, I covered her with my body…so she should be at least better than me!

I willed my eyes open to see…a blue sky up above me. No clouds, just…blueness… I looked around but that was all I could see without turning my head. I made my body move to sit up. I gasped in disbelief…

We…were in what looked like…the North pole. Or South pole, no way of telling… Everything was so white and blue.

"Ash!" I called, looking around. In a large mound of snow to my left, lay the crumbled body of Ash. I crawled over to her and turned her over onto her back. The snow was stained with red as she was bleeding heavily. "Ash!" I said loudly, trying to wake her up. Her shoulder was dislocated. Not to mention the two bullet wounds in her! "Ash…Ash…wake up!" I looked around, trying to see if there was any change of civilisation around here. It was cold, and she wasn't wearing the right attire in any way shape or form. That's when I noticed a path, or a sort of dip in the snow to my right. As I tried to focus I saw…the faint marks of smoke. There were people! Thank god! I didn't have time to question why they were here out in the snowy waste land, I just had to get there with Ash.

I slowly and shakily stood up, then bent down and gentle placed Ash on my back. She barely weighed anything, never has done. At least I had started to fill out with muscles recently, but Ash was still light as a feather, even though she had been developing body wise, it didn't seem to make a difference. I made sure that her arms were over my shoulders, and then just realising that I had a wound on my shoulder. The bullet had just grazed me, so I didnt fear for my life. I took tight hold under her thighs, and lifted her up on my back to keep her steady as I tried to walk. I felt her tighten her grip ever so slightly around my neck.

"Here we go, Ash, we're going to find someone to help. Your going to be alright…" I murmured.

I started trudging towards the smoke, on the small amount of snow cleared away like a path. Everything around me was white, I saw no sea. No blue apart from the heaven's above.

For a good hour I kept walking. I knew that we were both loosing blood. I had the wound on my head and shoulder, and then I could feel how much Ash was loosing, as it was slowly leaking out onto me. There was a steady flow of blood dripping from the path we were walking.

Slowly, I could see the place where the smoke was coming from. I could make out…tents and poles, and a sort of wall made from snow.

I came closer, there was a sound of shouting. I saw what looked like a little child emerged from the small gap in the snow wall. He was clad in blue snow out fit. He was shouting, then ran away.

"W-wait!" I croaked after them. I was only a couple of meters away from the wall now when I felt my knees give way. My vision was going blurry.

My breathing was coming out in ragged puffs, and I could barely hear Ash's shallow breathing. I felt to my hands, I tried to crawl forward but I was too tired.

"Please…" I whispered. "Don't go…" It was useless. I was going to pass out. It was too cold, and I was too tired and weak.

Through my vision I saw what seemed to be an old lady, white large, in the blue snow outfit as well, with white hair and dark skin.

"Please…"I said faintly before my arms gave way and blacked out.


	3. Too much Blue can give you a headache

Something cool was touching my face, which was a change because my whole body felt…warm. I felt incredibly warm actually. W-where was I? what had happened? I had passed out…Where was Ash?!

Is she okay!? What happened?

I felt the dampness again on my forehead and a sting.

"Ow…" I hissed through my teeth. "Shit…" I opened my eyes to my face to face with an upside down wrinkled dark skinned face and piercing grey s.

"GAH!" I shouted, sitting up quickly then wincing in pain as a sharp pain shot up my spine to my head. Shouldn't have done that… I put my hand to my head o feel some type of cloth round around it.

"Wouldn't touch that if I were you, boy." I head a deep yet soft voice say behind me. I turned to see the wrinkled face of an old woman, with cloudy blue eyes in the dim light. She was fairly large, but with a soft looking face. Her hair was all grey, contrasting with her darker brown skin. Her hair was tied in a bun, with sort of…hair…loop things at the side leading to the bun. She wore blue attire. It was like a big dress, with a fur lined hood, and a rim of fur around just under the torso. There was tight cloth across her chest forming a X in a darker blue and at the joints of the arm. The trims of her sleeves were fur lined as well and she had a kind of wave pattern on large cloth around the trimmings of the sleeve and above the fur on her chest.

"W-who are you?" I asked. She continued to stare at me without saying anything. "Where am I?" I asked again. I looked around. I was in what looked like a dark brown…tent. TP actually. What on earth? I looked down to see that I was bare chested, but hand bandages around my upper torso. I touched my head and winced again. I had bandages around my fore head as well. I looked around. I was on a sort of mat, sitting in what seemed to be a sleeping bag, lined with fur. It was warm that was for sure.

The woman picked up a cloth from a wooden bowl with water in it, squeezed it dryer and looked back up at me. She beckoned me forward with her hands. I regarded her for a moment before crawling back towards her. I knelt before her, and she placed the water onto my cheeks and neck.

"You are in the Northern Water Tribe village. We found you outside. I have been treating you. Call me GranGran." I stared at her wide eyes as she continued to pat me with the cloth. "You were lucky. Just a scratch and a bump. Your friend though…she's a little trickier."

"my friend? Ash?" Where is she? Is she alright?" I asked desperately! Ash! Where was she? The woman patted my cheek, her touch be rough yet gentle.

"Do not worry young one, your friend will be fine. She had been treated, but she needs her rest." I nodded. That was good.

"Thank you…" I said looking up at her. Her face broke into a smile as she stood up.

"I've brought you some clean clothes. I think you're well enough to get out of here, if just for a little while. But be careful, you had a nasty blow to the head." I nodded as she exited through the curtain to the left, letting in the light of a fire outside in. I looked to the side of the bed to see an assortment of clothing. I was just in my boxers and that was in. I grabbed what looked like a dark blue pair of trousers, but they were loose and baggy but thick to keep warm. I pulled those on, then what looked like a long sleeved under top that acted as gloves as well. I pulled in on to feel it as very warm. Then in was a kind of…tunic thing. It was like a T-shirt but was long and I assumed I tied it around the waist. I did so but with a little bit of distress from my arm. Then there were what looked like boots, that went half way up my calf, they were a deep brown. They were like no shoe I had ever seen before but oh well. Once it was on I struggled to my feet slowly, groaning slightly. I felt a tiny bit of success when I was fully standing up. I took a hesitant step forward and pushed aside the flap/door thing.

My eyes widened. I was in what looked like a little camp. All around me were tent/tepee things like the one I had just come out of. It was like nothing I had ever seen before…at least I don't think so. This place seemed slightly familiar to be honest.

Where was I? How did I get here? We crashed I remember but that was it…

While I was looking around in awe I didn't notice the old woman come over to me.

"Good to see you out," She said. I turned to her and nodded. Yes, I suppose it was good…sort of…

"Why don't you come over and warm yourself up?" She asked. I nodded and followed her over to a large fire a little off. The small village seemed to be surrounded by a wall of snow.

I followed the woman, and noticed several other people. Women and children. That was it. Where were any men? Not that a society needed them to thrive apart from reproduction but I wonder if there were any besides myself? not that I was a man obviously.

"Would you like some warm soup?" she asked to me. there was a large fire with a stove over it cooking something. It smelt nice. There were three woman besides GranGran, and they were watching me carefully. There were also a couple of children, sticking close to their mothers. Were they afraid of me? I suppose I was a stranger that randomly showed up in their village with an almost dead girl… Yeah, I'd be afraid too.

"That would be nice," I smiled at them. I saw some of the women blush and some of the kids looked a little less afraid. Me and Ash could do that to people when we wanted. Dazzle them. even though we were young we could still do that to people. She always said that we had promising careers as models. I bet she could if she wanted too…

"Sit yourself down," she instructed. She said it with such authority that I dare not disobey her. I dropped. I did as I was told and sat down on what looked like a blanket thing beside the fire; the others were sitting on them as well. I watched out of the corner of my eye as some of the children approached me hesitantly, the smaller ones hiding behind the eldest.

"Hey," One of the asked. It was a boy, with dark skin just like everyone else in this little village. He looked to be about eight or seven with messy light brown hair. There was another boy who looked to be of that age as well, with dark shorter hair, and a little girl of either six or seven with little dark pigtails.

I turned to the little boy who was watching me curiously, as if summing me up. he seemed like a little worrier, wanting to protect the people of his village from the stranger. How cute.

"What's your name?" He asked me boldly, pushing his chest out as if the rival me.

"West." I said in a calm voice, trying to prove that I wasn't a threat. The boy frowned.

"What kind of a name is West?" He asked in confusion.

"Hodako!" A mother chastised the boy, sending me an apologetic smile at the child's behaviour.

"it's alright, I don't mind. It is kind of a strange name." She smiled. GranGran came back over and handed me a bowl with warm liquid in it, it smelt delicious. Only then did I realise just how hungry I was. Man, I was starving.

"Here, drink up. It will give you strength." She stated. I took the bowl in my hand.

"Thank you…" I just held the bowl in my lap for a moment. And I stayed there, by the fire for a while, sipping the stew until it was all gone. More women and children started to gather around the fire, talking, laughing, and having their stew. I wasn't there at the moment. Ash and I had that in common, that we could just phase out of things, like we were dreaming while awake. We would then tell each other about our dreams. We would dream of wonderful things. I tended to thing about rushing rivers, large mountains and the great ocean. She thought of birds flying, and burning fires. It was strange, but we both very comforted to tell each other what was either bothering us or what made us happy…

"West!" My head snapped up too see the little boy standing in front of me. he was grinning at me, his eyes sparkling in the reflection of the fire. It had gotten dark very suddenly, but I didn't feel the cold. The talking had stopped now, and they were all watching the exchange looks between me and the small boy.

"Y-yes?" The boy glanced at GranGran.

"What's your friend called?" I smiled fondly.

"Her name is Ash." The boys eyes widened.

"are you guys lovers?" I nearly choked on the process of swallowing saliva.

"W-what? N-no!" I stuttered, my cheeks blazing.

"Hodako, that's enough. Don't pester the boy." GranGran ordered. The boy pouted and walked back over to his friends. There was more silence, and I realised that everyone was either watching me or GranGran. What were they staring at? Why was no one talking? Talk about your awkward silences…

"West…" GranGran started, looking over at me. "Where did you come from?" I stared at her blankly. I…don't actually know what happened. I guess it hasn't fully sunken in yet. Where the hell were we!? How on earth had we ended up in the South Pole?! Fucking crazy… I don't even think I'm in the same world anymore…this is all so strange. I've never heard of people living in the South Pole…unless…

"I don't know… I don't know how we got here…" I mumbled.

"What happened to you and your friend to cause such injuries…?" I didn't answer straight away, but stared at the ground. "I found metal stones lodged in her wounds. What kind of a demon did this to her?" my gaze snapped up to hers, and she blinked at the intensity of my gaze.

"Not demons. _Humans._" I spat the world out as if it were poison. I rested my elbows on my knees, my hand clasped together in front of my face. I turned to look at the fire, scowling. "Filthy, Horrible, cruel, evil men." GranGran didn't respond straight away. I meant what I said. They were evil! God I hated how humanity could be so _corrupt_. It was disgusting and I never wanted Ash to be near people like that every again.

"West…how did those men get metal in her?" Everyone was listening closely to what I would tell them. I will tell them. They should know. I sighed.

"Where I come from…where _we_ come from…Is not this world…" How can it be? This was too strange to be Earth anymore, well, not _our _earth. There was a number of gasps around the fire. GranGran studied me.

"You come from a different world? The spirit world? No…" I shook my head. Why did the 'sprit world' sound familiar to me? where had I heard it before? Why did it sound so familiar. Everyone was looking at me, expecting me to tell them more about the world that we come from.

"Our world…is very corrupt…" I said slowly, staring into the fire, the red and golden flames filling up my vision. "Humans have… slowly destroyed and polluted our world…People of our world can be greedy…evil…cruel…" I scowled at the fire.

"We developed weapons, thousand of them."

"What kind of weapons?" A woman asked.

"Was it one of them that hurt your friend?" The boy asked. I nodded, my scowl disappearing. I didn't want to frighten anyone.

"Yes…She was hurt by one of them. A gun."

"Gun? What's a gun?" Another woman asked.

"A gun…is a hand held weapon, about _this_ big," I showed them how long the gun was, the one that had been used. "They shoot at you, like an arrow."

"As fast as an arrow?" What primitive times this must be. Where the hell were we? The middle ages or something? I turned to the boy with a serious expression.

"A hundred times faster…" My gaze travelled back to the fire. No one spoke after that, but from their faces I could tell that the idea of such a weapon scared them. I sighed and turned to GranGran.

"Can I see her?" I asked. She nodded and stood up, and walked away towards a tent. I stood as well, and handed my bowl to the woman who had made it, and gave her a warm smile.

"Thank you, it was very delicious." She nodded with a shy smile. I followed GranGran into the darker area of the village, that led to a warm tent. The old woman hobbled in there, and I followed, the only sound being the crunching of snow under the boots that I was wearing. I pulled aside the flap door to see a small fire in the middle of the large tent, making it warm. The only light was the fire, softly crackling. I looked and found GranGran standing next to two sets of mats and furs. One of them had a person inside. Ash.

I ran over to where she was and fell to my knees down next to her and looked her over. She was wrapped up with furs around her, keeping her warm and comfortable. She had a bandage around her head, and covering her right eye. If I seem to remember, she had been given a nasty cut down her right eye. I felt my eyes filled with tears as I touched the side of her face. She looked so fragile…

"When will she wake up?" I asked, turning to GranGran. She studied me for a moment before answering.

"In the next day or two, she should wake up." I couldn't help but feel relieved. She would wake up…thank goodness…

I let out a breath that I didn't realise I had been holding. Now that I knew he would be okay, I had to stay with her. I didn't want to leave her again, I won't let her out of my sight now.

"I'll sleep here tonight then…" I whispered. GranGran nodded her head and made her way out of the tent. I took off my Tunic thing, and the boots, then pulled some of the furs that were by me over my body, and lay down next to Ash. I stared at her face. She was beautiful. Her skin was the colour of snow, and smooth and soft to the touch. Her nose was small and the end curved to give her what was called a 'button nose'. Her lips were full and naturally pouty, and a rosy pink colour. Her eyes were naturally innocent looking, open and curious. Her hair was the colour of wheat, a warm right gold. It was swept across her forehead, before falling down to her shoulders in curled ringlets. Her hair shone like the sun in the light, and it was as smooth as silk. It was a lovely feeling to run my hand though her hair, apart from when I encountered knots there, usually making her yelp in pain as she never really brushed it.

It pained me not to see her eyes open. I yearned to see her sit up with that bright smile she always saved for me…But she wouldn't. She wouldn't wake up yet...

The last thing I saw before I fell asleep was Ash's face.


	4. WTF? Hair Loopies?

Ow. My body hurts. Everything hurts! Wait…no… my ears don't hurt. Well, that's a relief I suppose. So technically not _everything_ hurts but you get the gist. But I felt warm, why did I feel warm? Was I dead? No, it wouldn't feel anything if I was dead. Everything was warm around me, and soft, but I felt something else. Something more fleshy next to me. Now that I listened I could head the steady breathing that wasn't my own, someone was next to me. It was a body, curled next to my small body. I blinked, my eyes adjusting to the dim light of the room. Was it a room? I couldn't tell. Actually, what kind of a room was this? It slanted sideways. Only then did I realise that I was actually only seeing out of one eye. What? Where was my other eye! Oh my god! I only have one eye!

With protest from my body did I touch my right eye to feel that I had in fact have bandages over it. Oh. That would make more sense that having a lack of an eye...

I turned my head slightly, wincing at the pain to see the sleeping angel next to me.

_West._ He was so cute when he slept. His dark coffee skin was always clear, and he had such a pretty face. Well, I guess its more handsome that pretty. I couldn't see his light blue eyes because they were closed, which made me pout a little bit. His short dark hair was bed headed slightly, making him look like a little angel. He said he kept his hair short because he liked it when I brushed my finger though it. The funny thing is that it was probably true. I saw his eyes flicker and then open slowly. At sight of me his eyes grew wide, then a giant smile spread on his face.

"Hey," I croaked. Damn my throat felt dry. Felt like I had sand poured down it. I had eaten sand before and God I would not recommend it.

"Hey…you're awake." He whispered. I smiled slightly.

"No shit Sherlock," He laughed huskily. I tried to move closer to him and his warmth but let out a cry as a searing pain ran up left arm to my shoulder. Jesus what the hell was that?! My eyes widened in realisation. I had been shot. And I was alive? It's a Christmas Miracle.

"Ash, are you alright? What's hurting? Are you in pain!?" He asked sitting up to inspect me. He took away his warmth and I couldn't help but whine in the back of my throat.

"No, lie back down. Come 'ere!" I whined. He regarded me hesitantly. "Oh don't be such a baby I'm _fine_, just tired. Lie back down, _please,_" he gave in and lay back down next to me, where I proceeded to snuggle up to his side without moving too much. I sighed in content and he laughed slightly. He turned on his side, and that's when I noticed what he was wearing. I slowly started to fall back asleep, but as I stared at the strange blue clothes he was wearing it all seemed a little too familiar. Where had I seen that kind of blue clothing…?

Then darkness.

_Water. Earth. Fire. Air._

_Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony, then..everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, Master of all four elements could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years past and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar, an Airbender names Aang. And although is Airbending skills are great, he has a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone. But I believe, Aang can save the world…_

_My vision filled with white. Not an empty, scary kind, just soft and calming. I could feel a gentle breeze tickle my skin and I sighed in happiness. Suddenly, my vision filled with red. Fire. Everywhere, burning, covering me. not hurting, but I could taste the panic, the smoke…the burning flesh and year the screams._

I sat bolt up right, my whole body covered in a sheen of sweat. I searched the darkness franticly with my large eyes, until the darkness adjusted and I saw that the fire was still smouldering.

I felt way too hot. I looked down and even though it was dark I seemed to be able to see West sleeping next to me, easily. I had what looked like furs covering me and what I was lying on. I glanced down to see that my whole torso was covered in bandages, around one shoulder then down to my lips. It was kind of like a swimming suit made from bandages. I also had one around my head covering my right eye. West was fast asleep, snoring slightly and looked very cute. I smiled slightly at this but turned back to an attempt to get less hot.

My body ached badly, but I wanted to stand and get out of this tent thing. I looked around to see if there was anything that I could wear other than my bandaged, and spotted a blue kind of tunic thing next to West. I picked it up and held it in front of me. Huh. This looked familiar…where had I seen something like this before in my life…? I shrugged and put it on, making sure to tie it up around my waist. I couldn't help but let out a small hiss as I nearly touched my wound.

I slowly started to move, making sure to place the furs back over West. He was always more sensitive to the cold than me.

I placed my hands behind me and started to manoeuvre up to a standing position. I ground my teeth together to stop from crying out at the movement, but I was good at tolerating pain. We both were.

I nearly stumbled as I got to my feet, but managed to catch myself in time. I let out a breath I didn't realise I had been holding as I became for solid in how I was standing.

I stumbled out of the tent and gasped at the coldness that I felt.

"Holly crap!" I gasped as I saw where I was. I was in what looked like a village but everything was covered in snow. Everything was white. Shades, tone, it was a little disconcerting. It was early morning by the looks of it, and there were a couple of people around, but everyone had stopped talking and doing stuff because they were all now staring at me. There were children and women, and they were all staring at with wide eyes. Ugh….the staring is kind of freaking me out.

I looked around with wide eyes. There was a lot of blue, as all the clothes being worn were all blue with fur linings. They all had dark skin and hair. This all seemed very familiar.

"Ash," Someone said. I turned to see an old woman with wrinkled and white hair. She had a bun and hair loopies.

_Hair loopies?_

"You shouldn't be out of bed, you injuries are too serious," I stared at her for a moment, and looked around. She was talking to me? Well, I mean, she knew my name so that must could for something, right?

"Who are you?" I asked, walking to her, wincing. I was about her height. Damn I really wasn't tall at all…

"You can call me GranGran." My eyes widened. No…seriously…?

"W-where am I?" I whispered, looking around. People were crowding around me now with big curious and concerned eyes.

"The Southern Water tribe, you friend brought you here," Southern water tribe? Jesus! These people were crazy…unless…

I let out a strangled cry or shock, freaking some of them.

"Have you met Aang?" I asked everyone. GranGran looked at me with wide eyes.

"Yes…how did you know, young one?"

"You know Aang?" A little boy asked. I looked down at him. he looked to be no more than ten years old. He was adorable. I grinned down at him and saw him blush. How cute!

"Yeah…you could say that…" I shrugged. I turned back to GranGran.

"So…let me get this straight…" I mumbled. "This is the southern water tribe…how long ago did Aang leave with Katara and Sokka?"

"how do you know them?" One of the women asked. I turned to her with a sheepish smile.

"I don't. But that's not the point…" I sighed.

"They left two days ago, just before you came here," The woman replied. I nodded. Hm… I seemed to be…an another…world…another dimension. My eyes widened, as I realised the seriousness of this. I WAS IN THE AVATAR WORLD! HOLLY FUCKING JESUS GOD!

"WEST!" I screamed, and turned around to hobble into the tent. "WEST! WAKE UP! GET YOU ASS UP BOY!" I screeched as I ran over to him. I then realised that I had shooting pains up my chest. I ignored them as I knelt down near him. He shot up lightning fast looking around very alarmed.

"Ash!" He exclaimed in a panic and crawled over to me, where I was hyperventilating. I was kind of panicking now to be honest. We were in the avatar world! This cannot be happening…!

"What's wrong? Why are you up!? its dangerous for you! Your injured!" He took my hands into his and looked me over. Seeing that I wasn't missing any limbs of bleeding, he sat back on his butt with a sigh.

"West…" I gasped. I raised an eyebrow at me. "You know where we are, right?" He looked confused.

"GranGran said we were in the South Pole." I shook my head at him. How can he be so dense sometimes!?

"No, West, we are in the _Southern Water Tribe_." I said pointedly. He frowned at me. "Geez! Where have you heard that before? All these people wear blue…" He still looked at me in confusion. I gave a huff of annoyance and grabbed him, putting both my hands on either side of his face. "West, we're in the Avatar world!" His eyes widened. Thank God! Now he finally gets it.

"Shit…" He grumbled, wide eyes. I smiled at him. "This is messed up." he slipped on his boots, then looked at me as I moved closer to him. He looked a little shaken.

"No, West, listen. This is _good_. We escaped! And we can go through the world safely, because we know what will happen…We can _help_ West…" I whispered, with wide happy eyes. He looked at the ground for a moment, thinking this over. We could go exploring, and we both knew how to fight, so we might be able to help if just a little bit. We could save Aang, we can help them, and we can help save the world and end the war. It's not like we have anything else to do. We could have an adventure…just me and West, together as we explored. He looked back up and me and nodded with a serious expression.

"alright…I suppose anything is better than our old lives…" He replied. I gave a cry of joy and jumped on him, wrapping my arms around his neck, and kissing his cheek. I gave a yelp of pain though and my body went rigid around his.

He sighed and stood up with me in his arms.

"can you move?" I shook my head. "You shouldn't have done so much moving, you idiot," I giggled to that. I suppose that was pretty stupid of me…

West went out of the tent, to see all of the Villagers standing around the tent, concerned expressions. I smiled apologetically at them for acting strange earlier.

"Sorry about my little outburst back there…" I said to GranGran. She did look like the actual character but…_real_. She nodded, but they all still looked a little confused. West led me to where there was a fire going, a little down the way. I stared around in awe at the tents. It was so cool.

I then just realised how cold it was, and yet I felt perfectly fine, still very warm, but a little better now that I wasn't wrapped up in furs. West came close to the fire then sat down with me in his lap on a cloth thing.

He let his legs splayed out, with my back leaning against his chest. GranGran came to sit near us as well. People were sitting around the fire.

"here," GranGran said, handing me a wooden bowl of some warm liquid. I took it in my hand and smiled at the warmth of it. I took and sip. It was delicious.

"how are you feeling?" She asked me. I looked up at West who was staring at me intensely with his light blue eyes. I turned back to GranGran.

"I feel fine,"

"_Ash_," West warned. I pouted.

"Okay, a little sore, but other than that, seriously, I don't feel as if I had been shot!" I smiled up at him innocently. He raised an eyebrow at me, still no quite believing me but luckily he let it go. GranGran watched the exchange between us but didn't say anything.

I carried on drinking my soup, while West started to talk to GranGran.

"We will need to leave today." He said. GranGran stared at him for a moment, not saying anything. She then nodded.

"Is there a reason for this?" I paused then swallowed.

"We're are to find you grandchildren and the Avatar, and assist them." West glanced down at me. GranGran looked a little unsure.

"And how might you plan to assist them? Are you benders?" I couldn't help but laugh out loud at that, as did West. After we stopped laughing I actually thought about it.

"We…don't know if we can bend any elements. We don't know if we can in this world." I glanced at West, who looked lost in thought. "We know what's going to happen. We know the battles your grandchildren will fight. We know what will happen with the Avatar," I looked up at the sky and then back at GranGran, meeting her gaze. "We know the outcome of the War," There was a round of gasps, including from GranGran. I knelt forward, away from West's warmth and took GranGran's hand. She just wanted her grandchildren safe. She lost her child, she can't loose them too. I met her light blue eyes with my honey ones.

"We will find them and keep them safe," I saw tears in her eyes and she nodded, bringing me into a hug. She was warm despite the cold air.

"What would you need?" She asked. I smiled and looked back at West, who smiled warmly at me. "We would need a boat, and some food, and warmth, enough to get us to the earth kingdom." She nodded and got up to go talk to some women. I returned to West's waiting arms and snuggled in. He stroked my hair gently.

"You know, if you're really in pain I'm sure we can wait another day," I shook my head at this and patted his cheek as he smiled crookedly.

"No, I'll be fine, I can rest while we're on the boat," he didn't push it any further. He just bowed his head and rested it on my shoulder. I finished drinking my soup, then leaned in closer and sighed. We stayed like that, for the next hour, both with our eyes closed, concentrating on our synced breathing. I wanted us to help, if anything to just put our skills to use in any way we can.

All we had to do was stay in each others company, and we could do nearly anything.


	5. I got no arm!

"West, Ash." I opened one eyes sleepily to see GranGran standing next to us.

"We have one ship left," I sat up, West's arms around my waist. "We have some extra supplies, and extra clothing and blanket for you. If this is what you wish, then we are willing to help," West stood up with me in his arms, and bowed his head to her, just like they do in the show. GranGran smiled, and I couldn't help but smile back.

"We have clothing for you." We followed her back to her tent, where we found clothing. GranGran turned to me.

"I have some special ointment that will need to be rubbed on your wounds two times a day," She handed me a little leather pouch. I smiled. "And here are some fresh bandages, your current ones will do, but these are for just in case." I nodded and she left. I turned back to find two sets of clothing, one for West, the other for myself.

What I wore, was a blue tunic, like Katara wore. So it was a dress coming down to my knees, having to be pulled around my waist. It didn't have sleeves, but stopped at my shoulders. Instead of having light trimmings and a darker base colour, the base was a light sky blue, and a darker blue for the trimmings. I took off the tunic thing and turned back around to give it to West. When I turned I saw him standing there, staring at me, a very sad expression. Uh Oh. I know that look. He was going to start blaming himself.

"Ash…" He whispered. I was only in my bandages now. I walked over to him and rested my hands on his tanned arms.

"West…don't look so sad," I said softly, looking up at his face. "We're going to be fine, you'll see," I rested my hand on the side of his face. He closed his eyes and frowned, but leaned into my touch anyway.

"You were hurt…" He murmured into my hand. "I could have saved you, if I had kept a closer eye on you,"

"No." I said, putting both my hands on either side of his face. He opened his eyes too look down at me guiltily. "It's not your fault. You couldn't have done anything to stop it. Your helped me just by staying by my side," he nodded sadly. I stood on my tip toes and wrapped my arms around his neck, and he bent down, burying his face into my shoulder. I rubbed his back, ignoring the shooting pains coming from my chest.

He then stepped back to look down at me, smiling sadly.

"you really should tell me if you're in pain. Stop trying to hide it." Damn. He got me. I laughed nervously. "We should use that piece of spare cloth as a sling for you." I nodded and turned back and picked up a undershirt that acted as sleeve/gloves, covering my first two fingers next to my thumb. It was a dark blue colour, contrasting greatly against my porcelain looking skin. Man, at least West could fit in; his skin was like the water tribe people.

I slipped that on, then there were the same coloured trousers that were soft and warm. Then I slipped my dress on over the top. Then my boots. They were also nice and warm. Like walking around with pillows on your feet. I turned back around, opening my good arm out wide.

"Ta-da!" I exclaimed happily. I stopped short to stare at West and what he was wearing. He had put on the tunic thing, which was a darker version of my sleeve/glove thing. He had dark pants on, and the boots. He looked *cough cough* …nice... I felt my cheeks heat up as I stared at him. he noticed.

"What?" I shook my head.

"N-nothing…" I mumbled. He grinned at me.

"Like what you see?" He asked huskily and I couldn't help but giggle at him.

"Oh yeah, totally, you're a real ladies man." I laughed. He smirked and pinched my nose, which just made me laugh louder.

"Come on. Hold your arm out," I did as he said, then he bent it correctly to the right position across my chest. He wrapped the large cloth together so it was like a triangle, then tied it at the base of my neck, making sure my arms was safe, secure and comfy against my chest. A comfy sling. I beamed up at him to which he kissed my forehead. "Alright, let's go." He bent down and picked up what looked like two pairs of gloves and two large coats. I followed him out of the tent, holding the bandages and pouch that GranGran gave us. She was waiting for us outside.

"This way, children," she said softly. We nodded and followed her. We walked through the village, where mothers and children were staring at us curiously and yet with a smile. We were led outside the village where all I could see was the sea, and the vast area of snow.

"Its so big!" I exclaimed joyously while holding out my one good arm wide. GranGran chuckled and West smiled sheepishly.

We headed in the direction that led towards the shore line, which held the ice cold water. We came to a stop, where I then saw a boat. It was wooden, with dark brown wood and a dark blue sail. It was about two meters wide and four meters long. It had wooden sides which was good so that I didn't fall off while I slept. I always seemed to roll of things while asleep, including a building before. Ah, that had hurt. Who knew falling from three stories hurt so bad? Ha, not me…

I hadn't thought that they would own a boat this big in all honestly, but then again I had never been here so how was I supposed to know?

"This should get you to the Earth Kingdom. Do you know where you plan to go?" I looked up at West, as we shared a knowing look. West spoke first.

"Well…They go to the Southern Air Temple first. Then Kyoshi Island, where they meet Suki," From GranGran's blank expression he carried on quickly. "A young warrior that teached your dear Sokka to respect female warriors." I snorted.

"Basically she teaches him a lesson by kicking his butt," We came to a stop next to the boat, where some of the other woman and children were crowding around.

"So you plan to go to Kyoshi Island, to meet them?" One woman asked. We shook out heads.

"No, probably not. They will be gone by then. We plan to follow closely behind them. plus we wanna' meet the Kyoshi warriors." She nodded with a smile.

"We have different types of clothes for you, because we assume the weather is a little different in the earth Kingdom than that of the south Pole." Another woman laughed, and we couldn't help but join in.

"Yes, just a little," West chuckled. They handed us wraps with things in them. So blankets, and two sleeping bags which were nice and warm and three bags full of food and extra things we might need. West clambered off the ice we were standing on, to put the things on the deck of the boat, where I noticed there were also oars to help if needed. I stood there, watching him put things away, while all the women and children chatted excitedly behind me, about how there's been so much activity recently.

"These are yours," A little voice said. I looked down to see a little girl and boy. The boy was holding clothes, while the girl held something wrapped in cloths.

I took the clothes from the boy, and flopped them onto the deck of the boat, then got down there myself surprising myself with how light I felt. Had I lost weight? How odd. I almost fell, but caught myself in an odd kind of hop. I smiled bashfully and turned back to the little boy.

"Thank you," I smiled up at the boy.

"We washed them for you guys," I patted his head affectionately and he blushed.

"And! And, we found these yesterday, where we think you landed," The little girl held out the thing that was in cloth. West came up behind me, looking over my shoulder. I took them, unwrapping the leather cloth to see what it was. It was a dagger…the one that had been with the men.

"Is it yours?" GranGran asked. I looked up at West, and our gaze held for a moment. We knew unless we got new weapons this was the only one we could use. We would have to suffice for now.

"No…They do not belong to us, but they are from our world…" West took them gently from my grasp before slipping it into his trouser pocket. "You have everything you will need, and in one of the bags is a pouch of Water Tribe money." I smiled up at GranGran.

"Thank you, for providing things for us. We will make sure to keep them safe," I turned to put everything away in the little storage area of the boat.

"Ash, West," I turned to look at her, as she looked sad and concerned. "I am thankful that you will take care of my grandchildren and the young Avatar," She took mine and West's hand, we were at least a foot shorter than her at the moment as she was standing on the Ice, higher than the boat. Her touch was warm and yet her grip was as strong as Iron on my hand.

"But please children…keep yourself safe as well. Are you sure you can go out into the world on your own? If this really isn't your world then how can you be sure everything will be fine for you both; you don't know what's out there." Me and West shared a knowing glance, and GranGran lets go of our hands. We took each other's hands, his large hand easily enveloped my own fragile small one.

"We know enough. We can protect them in a way that they can't themselves," West said in a solemn voice.

"how so?" GranGran said in a slightly concerned voice. I sighed as West went to go untather the boat, and let it start to move. We started to move very slowly, so that I could still talk to GranGran.

"The world is a harsh place. People can be cruel, and what worries us is that they are too naïve…your grandchildren and the young avatar…" I looked up at the sky. "Are too innocent. We are not."

"What makes you say that, child?" GranGran asked. We were almost reaching the end of ice, where we would start to move away from the ground that they were all standing on. Me and West stared at her steadily.

"Our lives have been harsh. And we want to prevent your grandchildren and the Avatars young lives to be polluted with violence, real violence that is. The last thing we want is for the children's lives to be corrupted by death." She nodded sadly.

"Be safe." We smiled and waved as the boat moved away from shore, out to sea.

"Here. You'll get cold," He held out one of the blue fur coats. I grinned and he helped it on over my clothes, and relished in the warmth that it provided. My slinged arm was held under the coat, so one of the arms had…no arm in it.

"Oh My Gosh, I got no arms!" I cried dramatically, twirling to hit West with the empty sleeve with a little 'thump'.

"Yes, some could even say you… 'arm less." He sniggered. I stop my movment and glared at him.

"Now that was just awful. You should be ashamed of yourself." I slapped him upside the back of the head, but he just grinned.

"Oh yes, I most certainly am, Ma'am."

"Good, next time I'll have to beat you for your bad sense of humour."

"you love it really."

"Humph. I'm not so sure." I raised an eye brow at him. He just patted me head.

"You should also put one of these on before you lose heat from your hands." West helped me put on one of the gloves. They were the cool kind where your forefinger was separate from the rest, which were like a mitten.

"Ash," West sat down in the deck, against other things, with a blanket. He also had gloves and the coat on, and he was lying down. "You need to rest."

"But I'm no tiiiiiii~red!" I pouted. He gave me a mock stern look.

"No buts, missy. Rest now."

"Yes _Mom._" I pouted, but did as asked and went to lie down next to him. He wrapped his arms around my tiny shoulders, and I snuggled into the crook of his neck. I purred happily and he chuckled, the vibration being felt through his chest. He smelt nice. Like freshly cut grass, and rain. It was so relaxing, and the gentle rocking of the boat was just making it that must harder to resist sleep. The boat gently swayed on the ice cold water of the south pole. There were no ice bergs near us thankfully, so it was just a straight course to land.

"West…" I mumbled sleepily into his neck.

"Hm?" he asked dreamily. We were both really quite tired, so it's no surprise that he was also falling asleep with me. We both probably needed about three days full sleep before we were back to our supposedly annoyingly bouncy selves.

"If you could bend any of the elements, what would it be…?"

"Hmm…Water, I suppose…"

"…Why?"

"I like what it stands for…" Huh. Neat. "How about you?"

"Air…It would be awesome to fly…"

"You know you couldn't _actually _fly, right? You would need a glider." I hit his chest in a vain attempt to make him shut up.

"Shaddup! Don't ruin my dream you awful boy." He chuckled, the voice vibrating from his chest to me.

"It would suit you best…" I smiled lazily.

"I hope we get there soon…" He whispered.

"yeah…" I felt myself slowly drift into sleep, and I tightened my grip on him, and slowly drifted off into sleep.

_Yeah, I hope we get there soon too…_


	6. Is it nice being the Moon?

For the next two weeks, I think that's what it was at least, I drifted in and out of consciousness. Apparently all that moving back at the village was too much for my body to handle, as least that's what West guessed when he talked to me. The longest that I had been awake had been a couple of hours, and even then it hurt to breath. Why didn't it hurt when I had been walking back at the South Pole? Maybe the ice cold of the land had dulled my sensory neurons into not informing my brain of the huge amount of pain I was in. What the hell was wrong with me? Now I sure felt like I had been shot twice, and trust me, it hurt like a bitch.

The pain was always there, even when I was passed out I could faintly feel the dull ache of the wounds. But when I woke, it was so much more painful. But when I _moved_! Dear god, it felt like two red hot poker were shoved into my body.

Normally if I tried to move, it was due to my ignorance of the limitations of my frail human body. Curse my arrogance…

I felt bad for West, as he was on his own through all this. When in a time of alertness I asked West if he was alright, he smiled gently at me and kissed my forehead that he felt better at night because he could lie next to me. Even if I was in pain I couldn't help but blush at that.

Whenever I was awake, there was the problem of having to get me to eat. We had a lot of dried meat thanks to the Water Tribe, but the problem was that I was too weak to chew, if he tried I would hold to Seal Jerky in my mouth loosely, then give up at it fell out. So West had to chew it for me, then lean in and put it into my mouth.

I blushed whenever he did it, so did he, but we knew it was necessary. I couldn't help but feel the heat run up my body when his tongue probed the chew meat into my mouth. He would also give me water from the skins whenever I was awake.

There were times when I'd wake up, and it would be night time, West asleep beside me. Those are the times when I would wake up covered in sweat, my head racing and my breathing heavy. I didn't like those times. I would be in pain, but not wanting to wake West up I would just whimper at the sky.

The skies were always clear, the stars evident, and recently I was blessed with seeing the moon to calm me down.

Lying on my back, deep inside the warmth of my sleeping bag, relishing in the softness that it provided. I shuffled my hand out of the glove, and rested it at my side. We were lucky that it hadn't rained at all, or if it had then I hadn't been awake for it.

Staring up at the moon, the first amount of fear slipped in. We were not in our world anymore. We were in foreign land, with foreign people. It was scary. This whole world, where people could control the elements, and had strange animals and ways of life, was scary. I was already scared and I had barely seen any of it so far.

Surprisingly, when I thought of people like Zhao, or Ozai, it doesn't seem to bother me that much. The fear that was supposedly so real hasn't seem to sink in yet. I guess one I come face to face with a Firebender then perhaps it might seem a little more real. I felt oddly calm thinking about them, more curious than anything. But there were some things that I looked forward to, and that was meeting my favourite characters and I knew that the first time I see them I'm going to give them a hug. Just because I could. Probably freak them out so much but I didn't really care.

I liked Sokka, and Toph. But the ones I always felt I would love more is Iroh, and maybe Zuko. Iroh was my favourite, he was so…just a lovely man, so caring for his nephew, who I knew had a kind heart… Plus he loved tea and who doesn't love tea?!

Me and West had never had supportive adult figures in our life (But hten again if anyone ever tired we would rebel against adult figures) , and for Iroh o be so caring about Zuko, even when he lost his way, and Zuko not even being his son… Well it triggered something in me is all I can say.

The only thing that I could see upsetting me in the foreseeable future was Katara's attitude towards Zuko near the end. I know she had a right to be angry at the man who _killed_ her mother, but that man was no Zuko. When the time came I will put that ignorant child in her place, I am sure of it. looking up at the moon through half lidded eyes, I had never felt so comforted by the night.

The moon was not yet Yue, that I knew, but I didn't care, West was asleep and I felt like talking to something. Even if that thing was a giant rock orbiting the earth atmosphere.

"Is it nice being the moon?" I asked the moon. No reply. Well, what did I expect? It to reply? "It must be nice not having to deal with the pain of humans…" The moons light shone down onto the boat, making everything looking magical and pale. "I hope that you are well, in the North Pole. I hope you and the Ocean sprit are content with your current forms, your are very beautiful, just so you know…" I let out a shaky breath. I was going to black out shortly, I could feel my body draining again. "Your going to have the Avatar in your presence shortly, hopefully ours as well but that isn't as guaranteed unfortunately…What can we do? We don't know how to bend…if we even can do anything…" My eyes slowly closed, the light cast from the moon disappearing all together as I was once again thrown into complete darkness.

**I know i've never said anything before so far, just thought I'd do now. Um...Yeah, so, if you made it this far I hope that means the stories bareble. It will get better, its just...ya know. The strange thoughts of West and Ash are a tad exhausting.**

**Sorry for any spelling mistakes. I tried to proof read...**

**So, yes. Sorry this chapter's short, next one they meet Suki! and it will be a tad bit longer...I think.**


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